Over the last month, my world has been turned upside-down and every which way imaginable. Granted, it was I who put it all in motion, but I’m rather glad it’s all happened.

Learning isn’t always easy, especially when emotions are involved. I’ve learned from seeing people around me, two in particular, that letting go is the hardest part of growing up.

But, if we dont’ let go, we never mature. If we don’t let go, we never learn to walk on our own. If we don’t let go, we never grow up, and we’ll continuously rely on others to make our lives easier.

Some people just never understand that concept until you ignore them completely. No matter how much you try to explain it to them, they won’t let go. That’s when all connections must be cut and let them learn the hard way. That’s tough love.

Experience is the greatest teacher, and don’t let anyone tell you different.

Writers become immortal because they write. Musicians become legends because they sing. Artists become famous because they’re inspired. Dancers become prima ballerinas because they practice.
All of the above require experience. Experience requires making mistakes. Mistakes give way to knowledge.

You can’t gain experience when you can’t let go…

I’ve had to make adjustments this holiday season. Working an hour from home resulted staying in Knoxville three days out of the week and driving back and forth to spend time with my family just so it can feel somewhat like Christmas. My roommates went back home in Middle Tennessee, leaving me all alone.

One thing I’ve learned from coming home to an empty apartment at the end of the day is that I need people; I thrive off of people. Growing up in a family of five made me used to having people around, and being the youngest, I’ve seen my family of five transition to a family of three then to an empty nest. It wasn’t easy, but I got used to being the only one around.

Now I have to get used to, if only for a short time, being the only one left in a “family” of four.

Perhaps this will prepare me for when I move to NYC and live alone until I meet the man of my dreams … I’ll look at it that way. Maybe I’ll submerge myself so deep in my career I won’t have time to think about it when I’m climbing my way to the top to be editor-in-cheif of Vogue (granted, the magazine still exists in 10 years. Epiphany: I need to take web design classes).

Either way, being alone is something we all have to cope with at some point in our lives. But, being alone gives you time to discover something about yourself you’ve never known before. I’ve learned that being alone inspires me to write blogs like this one. It gives me time to think, to consider events in my life and to reflect on them. I have time to finish reading a book or get caught up on The Office. Even so, I thought I’d be perfectly happy alone. Instead, I’ve discovered that it sucks. It sucks big ones.